Broken Past, Good Path

Those that I fight, I do not hate

                As soon as they landed on the freezing blacktop, Bradley jumped back into a crawling position, taking cover behind another car as glass shards fell off of him. His eyes scanned the situation, while his arms shot out, grabbing Morgan and pulling her up next to him. He could feel her shaking next to him, which he ignored for the time being. The hand with the pistol was still trained in their direction but the shooter appeared not to see them at the current moment. Bradley kept his eyes on the hand as he tightened his grip on Morgan’s.

                “When I say go, you run. Run as fast as you can back to the apartment. Do you hear me?” Bradley’s voice was low. Morgan gave no reply so he shook her fiercely, trying to get her attention. “Do you hear me?” Bradley asked again.

                “Yes.” Came the soft reply, the fear and sense of loss that came with the voice nearly forced Bradley to turn away from the shooter. He trained his eyes on the hand, using his free arm to press the talk button on his radio.

                “I’ve got the gold. Return to rally point zero.” The radio hiccupped with static once again.

                “Copy,” Two male voices responded immediately. Bradley frowned wondering what was keeping his partner from responding. The hand holding the pistol disappeared inside the broken down Camaro. Bradley for the time being had no choice but to forget about his partner.

                “GO!” Bradley yelled, pushing Morgan into a run while shielding her with his own body. Shots rang out around them, spewing brick and glass from every direction. They ran down the streets not daring to look back. Even with his daily workouts he could feel his lungs begin to burn in the cold air. He peered over his shoulder, not finding any trace of danger following them. He looked over to Morgan, who was keeping up with him at his side, her long brown hair flying in the wind behind them. She steadily slowed next to him, her breathing coming in quick and short.

                “I can’t run anymore.”

                “You must!” Bradley grabbed her hand and tugged her along down several more blocks of streets. As they got closer to Morgan’s apartment, they turned into a back alley, slowing to a stop next to a large, green dumpster. “We will slip into the apartment complex once we are sure it has not been targeted,” Bradley explained, pushing Morgan against the wall while keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of danger. Silence stretched on in the little alley except for the squawk of static while Bradley and Morgan remained huddled next to each other. They were completely hidden in their niche, allowing for Bradley to let them linger longer than they should have.

                “I’m sorry,” Morgan’s whisper of an apology brought Bradley’s stone, grey eyes to her. He really wanted to yell at her but the look on her face quieted him.

                “Why did you do it?” Bradley asked, the icy, blue glaciers meeting his grey eyes. The wind continued to whip Morgan’s hair across her face, concealing her expression.

                “I thought I was free of all of this. I could not accept the fact that I had been tricked. I also did not thin I would put so many people at risk,” Morgan explained simply. Bradley ripped his eyes away from her.

                “I hope you realize now what your actions can cause,” Bradley responded bitterly. He could feel Morgan stir next to him, silently grabbing his arm. He wanted to protest but the feeling of her hands on him gave him a sort of warmth that he had not felt in a long time. He turned his eyes back to the alley.

                “You are bleeding!” She said. Bradley did not bother to look down at his arm, but became aware of the sudden stiffness in his arm. He scanned the area once more before he looked down at his arm. A large piece of glass was imbedded into his skin, trickling thick red drops.

                “It is nothing.” He replied, only now trying to shake her hands off of him but they remained glued to his arm.

                “You can not let it keep bleeding!” Morgan retorted. Bradley turned his eyes on her once more, watching as she unzipped her coat, tore off some fabric from her shirt and carefully wrapped his arm above the cut to slow the bleeding. Looking back at her face, he noticed it had gone ghostly white.

                “Are you ok?”

                “Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” Morgan averted her eyes, tears awfully close to the surface of the icy glaciers she was trying to keep frozen. “I just can not stand the sight of blood is all,” She said truthfully. Bradley was a little shocked to hear something new about the person he had looked after for so long. He nodded, his steel eyes becoming a little gentler.

                “Leader, come in!” Ryland’s nervous voice came over the radio.

                “Leader here. Go ahead,” Bradley spoke into the radio, keeping his eyes on Morgan.

                “Arrived at rally point zero. Place has been targeted. Lady in pink and the roommate have been hit. Directions where to go next. Over,” Ryland’s voice came loud and clear over the radio. Bradley closed his eyes in annoyance when Morgan let out a large gasp.

                “To base camp. Do you need help? Over?” Bradley replied. He turned his entire body to Morgan, forgetting the alley, frowning when he noticed that she was shaking uncontrollably.

                “What does that mean?” Morgan turned her frightened eyes on him. Bradley remained silent, knowing that he should not tell her the truth.

                “No assistance needed. Meet at Base camp.” Ryland answered over the radio, the static hissing as Morgan and Bradley stared at each other.

                “What does that mean?!” Morgan asked again. Bradley remained quiet, his eyes searching Morgan’s face as it became clear that she understood what had happened. “Noah?” Morgan called, turned and was about to lunge for her apartment. Bradley grabbed her arm, pulled her back to look at him and shook her slightly. “That is my best friend! He is the only family I have left!” Morgan yelled, facing him with her icy blue eyes. Bradley could see that her body was still shaking.

                “If that is so, then think of what danger you will put him in if you go running into a place that has already been targeted and can easily be done so again!” Bradley replied hastily. Morgan remained silent, her body beginning to convulse even more as her legs gave out underneath her. Bradley struggled to hold her up, lifting her closer to him. “Don’t be afraid! You will see him at base camp,” Bradley whispered, patting her hair in a comforting manner. He hated to admit that he did not like to see Morgan so weak. He moved them quickly to a black Mustang that was conveniently parked behind Morgan’s apartment building, next to another red Mustang. Bradley pushed Morgan into the passenger seat before he ran to the driver’s seat. He pushed the talk button on his radio as they drove off.

                “Any update? How are Lady in Pink and the roommate?” Bradley asked, looking again at Morgan. She remained in a fetal position, her body shuddering every other minutes. Bradley raised the temperature of his vehicle, trying to tune out the small whimpers she made as he turned the car abruptly onto the main rain, heading for the town just outside of the city. He once again did his best to refuse himself to look at Morgan and the pain that was etched onto her face.

                “The roommate doesn’t have it too bad. A few stitches and he will be right side up again. Lady in pink took the worse hit-“

                “Oh, I did not! Ow!” Olivia’s voice came over the radio in a highly irritated voice.

                “She will need surgery to remove the bullet from her shoulder, just above her clavicle. Lucky it missed her neck and face by a few inches.” Ryland finished. Bradley unwillingly took in the fact that Morgan began to shake a little less at the news, or perhaps it was because he had turned the heat up. She sobbed less and further in between as the tall buildings of the city fell away to the beautiful landscape beyond. Bradley pulled down a gravel driveway, well secluded from any other house. At the end of the driveway stood a small wooden cottage, wrapped in a full deck which stood in front of a much newer and larger building, a few stories high. The Mustang finished its rumbling just in front of the cottage. Bradley removed himself from the driver’s seat immediately, only to find that Morgan had not moved an inch. He sighed, standing guard over the black Mustang, letting his eyes wander though the front glass of the car to the immobilized mass that was Morgan. A few sobs continued to wrack her body every now and again as her eyes became increasingly red. His grey eyes moved away only when the red Mustang they had seen earlier pulled up. Ryland and Jax got out, followed by a limping Noah. Morgan got out of the car and ran into Noah’s arm, being careful of his leg.

                “Are you ok?” Morgan’s unsteady voice questioned.

                “I am fine. Are you?” Noah’s eyes scanned her. A muscle in Bradley’s jaw clenched as he watched the pair. Olivia weakly got out of the car, holding a well-dressed arm delicately.

                “Let’s go in and talk… shall we?” Bradley led the way into the small cottage and through the hallways to a newly designed foyer, glad to skip any more pleasantries. The room they stood in held a few glass rooms, standing next to each other and clearly holding medical equipment. When Bradley looked back again, he saw Noah helping Olivia, which surprised him, as Morgan slowly brought up the rear.

                “Olivia, go into the doctor’s cubicle. The doctor will be there shortly,” Bradley commanded. He nodded to Ryland and Jax, making sure they understood him about looking over Noah and Morgan for the time being. He turned on his heel and made sure to be the only one to follow Olivia into the room. “How are you feeling?” Bradley asked after pacing the room once and taking note of the face that Olivia was making.

                “Oh, brilliant!” Olivia replied, sarcasm lacing her words. She took a seat gingerly, looking up at him. “Tell me how that went on then,” Her orbs swiveled to the glass and beyond to where Morgan stood. “Oh, never mind, I know that you will never tell me,” Olivia mocked. Bradley cleared his throat.

                “Tell me what happened.”

                “After your orders, Noah and I went back to the apartment. We searched it but found nothing out of place. We were talking in the living room when the place just got blasted up. Thankfully Noah just got hit in the leg. He has got the instincts… which I wanted to talk to you about… I think he should be a part of the team…” Olivia recounted, her vivacious voice falling into a mumble at the end. Bradley frowned and began to pace the room again, thinking over everything. He was interrupted when an older gentleman with greying hair, wearing a long white coat entered the medical cube.

                “We will talk about this later, ok? Take care of her ok, Doc?” Bradley spoke quickly to the both of them, passing the doctor on his way out.

                “That will need stitches Mr. Thomas!” The doctor cooed as Bradley pushed open the door, in time to find Morgan and Noah in a heated discussion.

                “Never do that again Morgan! Do you understand me?!” Noah shouted, his voice reverberating in the room. Ryland and Jax stood a few feet away, looking perplexed and interested in the current fight that was going on.

                “I said I was sorry!”

                “These people are just trying to protect you! Your life!” Noah continued berating Morgan, his eyes turning dark as they looked into the glacier like eyes.

                “That is just the thing! I do not need any one protecting me or caring about my life! It is so worthless!” Morgan bit back. Noah leaned back, his muscles swelling, his jaw clenched with anger. In another moment, his arm was pulled up and brought back down across Morgan’s cheek, leaving an awkward smacking sound echoing across the room.